Jamaica's top cop points to 'troubling' increase in homicides, with over 600 so far this year

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica's police commissioner says there has been a "troubling" increase in killings, with 602 homicides so far this year.

Carl Williams told reporters Monday there have been significant declines in every other major crime category in 2015. But he says killings are on the rise. Police statistics say half of the slayings are rooted in gang conflicts and 80 percent are done with guns.

Last year, Jamaica saw double-digit decreases in every crime category, including a 16 percent drop in homicides. The 1,005 slayings recorded last year was the lowest annual total in over a decade.

It's still a long way off from Security Minister Peter Bunting's goal of reducing crime to "First World levels" by 2017, when he hopes Jamaica will have a maximum of about 320 homicides.